Michael Gambon doesn't see any point on reading the books????

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "sionwitch" <sionwitch at y...>
wrote:
>
> In an interview on Empire Magazine Michel Gambon sayd:
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> Empire magazine:"What makes Dumbledore the greatest wizard of
> all time?"
> 
> Michel Gambon: "I have no idea. I learn the lines that JK Rowling
> or whoever writes them, and say them. ...edited..."
> 
> Empire magazine: "Have you still not read any of the books?"
> 
> Michel Gambon: "Well, I don't see any point. I've got the 
> scripts. People who have read the books get miserable because 
> of all the bitsthat have been cut out. ..."
> 
> You can find the link for the entire interview in mugglenet or
> in HPANA.
> 
> I don't know about you but I'm so hurt with the way this guy
> express about doing Dumbledore, he does not deserves the 
> privilege. ...edited... I really miss Richard Harris, he will 
> always be Dumbledore in my mind.
>
> Sionwitch.
>

bboyminn:

I can understand your hard feelings, and to some extent I share them,
but on the other hand, this is very common. Gambon is not making the
book, he is making the movie, and in making the movie, he has to play
the character as written in the script, and has to work to carry out
the Director's artistic vision. 

Even Draco/Tom_Felton didn't read the first book when he did the movie
because he wanted to come into the role fresh, he wanted to be able to
act as a tool of the director, and to take the character in a
direction that the director felt was correct. I'm sure he felt that if
he read the books, it would just confuse him, he would come into the
role with preconceived notions about who and what the character was
and should be, and there is a chance that those preconceived notions
would conflict with the artistic vision of the director.

So, this is very common amoung experienced professional actors. They
read only the script and concentrate on making the movie, and try hard
not to let outside influences conflict with the script or director's
vision.

That said, as fine an actor as Gambon may be, I'm not sure he makes
the very best Dumbledore. Certainly an adequate Dumbledore; an
exceptable Dumbledore, but perhaps not the best. I really did like
Richard Harris as Dumbledore. He could be whimsical, but I have
absolute confidence that Harris could also portray the power and fury
of Dumbledore when the time came. I also suspect that Gambon, at the
time, was the only man for the job. 

I will also concede that Gambon doesn't really dress the part of
Dumbledore properly. I think Dumbledore has an arua of formal dignity
about him as well as an arua of whimsy, and that would not allow him
to tie his beard with a rubberband and where a burlap bag for a robe.

Ian McKellen might have been a good choice, but after playing a wizard
in 'Lord of the Rings', he probably wasn't real eager to play another.
Plus he may have had other commitments.

Another suggestion I read about recently was Patrick Stewart (Star
Trek: Next Generation) as Dumbledore. I think he could have been a
very good candidate. He is an excellent actor. I'm sure he could play
whimsical, and I'm confident he could play the anger and fury when
called on. Plus he has a really nice voice. Also, Patrick Stewart
seems to have an energy about him, a certain vitality that could lend
itself well to Dumbledore.

Perhaps we will get lucky and Gambon will not be available, and the
part will go to Patrick Stewart in the later films.

Just a thought.

Steve.bboyminn